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Nordrhein-Westfalen Landwehr
Nordrhein-Westfalen Revolution |decorations= |battle_honors= |commanders=Feldmarschall Claus Oster, Fmr. Chief of Staff Feldmarschall Mannfred Vorbeck, Chief of Staff |notable_commanders= }} "One of the last symbols of old colonial power. The UNSC would have eliminated or fully absorbed them decades ago, if they were a lesser force." '' The '''Nordrhein-Westfalen Landwehr' or Landeswehr are the forces of the world of Nordrhein-Westfalen, a planet populated primarily by German descended settlers. They are known as being one of the best in terms of morale, equipment, and training of any non- military organization in the human dominion. This is primarily due to the colony's great resource wealth, population size, and industrial output, which allow it to equip a large force of well-drilled and armed men to defend the planet from issues within and without. Though officially part of the and later the UNSC the latter's absorption of the former, the Landwehr through competence, talent, loyalty, and determination, have maintained a heavy degree of autonomy, especially in ground military affairs. This autonomy would be weakened by the Great War, but units and officers still saw a much greater amount of self-command during the conflict, including when the planet was assaulted by the in late 2549. Although the attack was repelled the following spring by a joint effort with UNSC Naval and land-based troops, it still caused horrific devastation to the planet's resources, infrastructure, population, and overall military might. Nothing like the destruction wrought upon the planet had ever been seen by the Nordrheinlanders and it permanently scarred the world and its populace. While already deployed units would continue to see action on the blood-soaked colonial battlefields of the genocidal war, no new units were founded for offensive purposes for the remainder of the war. Colonial focus was shifted almost entirely toward home defense. However, a handful of volunteers would serve as replacements for these wayward armies during the conflict's waning years. Post-War saw major upheaval in Nordrhein-Westfalen society, as rebel elements in the Landwehr and the colonies assembly made themselves known and began to call for self-rule, often quoting Landwehr Marshal Mannfred Vorbeck word's 'Self determination, through peace or war." In 2554 negotiations broke down between the UEG and Nordrhein-Westfalen, leading to the August Revolution, where the secessionists, who had the loyalty of roughly 70% of the government and militia, seized power in the Colonial Assembly and the Landwehr high command, issuing a Declaration of Home Rule on August 19th, 2554. This began a civil war amongst the loyalists and insurrectionists, which lasted for 2 and a half years. It was interrupted by a UNSC response in November 2554, whom looked to crush the rebellion so close to home. However the weakened UNSC military could not provide a significant enough force to help the loyalists defeat the rebels on their home turf. Many interplanetary revolutionary groups provided aid to the Nordrheinlander rebels, including men, supplies, equipment, and officers with expertise in guerrilla warfare. This failure by the UNSC, combined with Innie help culminated in a hard-fought self-rule victory in early 2557. The people of Nordrheinland, with their newly won independence, were finally able to properly rebuild their world in the wake of nearly a decade of planet-side warfare, with the Landwehr ready to defend against the alien, the pirate, or the imperialist interloper, should any arise to threaten their people and homeland. History Colonial Origins Nordrhein-Westfalen was unique for an early Inner Colony, as it was considerably further from Earth and many of her other early settlements, being practically an decades before the first 'proper' one was founded. This isolation allowed the creation of a large colonial militia, as it was necessitated by fears of piracy, civil war and rebellion. While it was always large for a planetary defense force, it didn't reach a truly massive size until the late 2390s, as by this time the colony had established most of its population and industrial base. Typically colonies, especially Inner ones, outsourced nearly all of their home defense to the CMA and the UNSC, and only maintained small militias of their own populace. This deal worked for both the colony and the UEG, as the colony could essentially eliminate its defense budget, and the UEG could continue to expand its influence over colonial affairs. Nordrhein-Westfalen was atypical in this regard. Their colonial government valued both personal freedom and self-reliance, and so formed the Landwehr. Mostly from loosely organized militia units that had defended the colony for the first six years of its existence. It was named after a type of old germanic military unit, that was typically used for home defense or second line duty, but could be used on the frontline as well. Landwehr is usually translated as 'Defense of County'. The term 'home guard' is likely derived from it, and is an accurate descriptor of the militia. Charged with putting down planet-wide, violent civil unrest during the , including the crushing of several early resistance movements whose ideologies would go onto inspire many during the . This earned them a reputation as stalwart UEG loyalists, who would do anything to keep Human civilization together and stable. Their ruthlessness earned them another characterization from the common folk, one of butchers of dissent. Dogs for the UNSC's war machine. Through this the Landwehr kept up their duty, defending the world from pirates, and keeping civil unrest from turning the planet into an abandoned, rebel, hellhole. By the time of the Insurrection the Landwehr was truly massive, with 22 Divisions and over 310,000 men (of a planetary population of ~1.2 billion), although few had seen combat other than riot patrol or anti-piracy action. Insurrection During the early Insurrection, the Landwehr quickly crushed early rebellions, but as the conflict dragged on, more and more battles and terror attacks plagued the planet. Because of this, it became known as one of the most resistance heavy Inner Colonies. During the early conflicts of the growing civil war, a significant portion of the Landwehr officer corps began to develop secessionist sympathies. This is primarily due to the increased overreach of the UNSC/UEG on the colony's affairs, especially militarily, which angered the fiercely nationalistic Nordrheinlanders. The savagery of both sides, lead to the Landwehr to perform further and further ruthless actions to crush the rebel forces, pushing many more to hate the Earth and its leadership. UNSC officers tended to look down upon the Landwehr commanders, who saw themselves as equals in skill and experience, especially due to their years of experience fighting Innies on the home front. This lead to a great resentment among the two officer corps, and it would cause chain of command problems throughout the Insurrection and the Great War. This powder keg would likely have ignited by then end of the 2520s has the Human-Covenant War not broken out mid-decade. The Great War A genocidal war puts a lot of things into perspective, and makes many make decisions out of necessity rather than personal want. Perspective was given to the command staff of the Landwehr on February 21st, 2526, when it was revealed to them by that mankind was facing extinction from an little known, but powerful alien threat, the Covenant. The officers put aside their self-rule aspirations for the good of the species. So when it was revealed to the general public in late 2528 of the existential threat humanity faced, the men of the militia had already been drilling for years in preparation. At this point even many of the junior officers and NCOs had an idea of the threat to come, so the unit was well prepared for the eventuality of Covenant attack. The talented Nordrhein Landwehr, with their large numbers, were quickly made active units of the UNSC Army as the war began to take its toll on UNSC forces, and by 2530, 19 of the 29 Nordrhein-Westfalen Divisions had been moved to active service in the UNSC Military. By the end of the war, the Landwehr would increase in size to 48 Divisions with 35 being activated for off-world combat at one point or another. They also provided men for another 17 UNSC units of similar size. Early on, many of the men had excitedly volunteered to defend humanity, with soldiers of secessionist sympathies seeing service as a way to gain greater autonomy Post-War. In fact, many UEG politicians had hinted to pro independence Nordrheinlander politicians that help in the war would go a long way towards self-rulership. but as the war dragged on and the meat-grinder of the Outer Colonies became ever worse, this sentiment grew less and less common, especially as the UNSC began to exert ever more and more authoritarian control. This grew even worse with the introduction of the Cole Protocol in 2535. Home Front Selbstverwaltung = 'Self Determination' A Brave New Galaxy Organization and Ranks Training and Indoctrination Equipment, Arms and Vehicles Structure Officer Corps (Offizierekorps) Generalfeldmarschall Mannfred Vorbeck, Commander Landwehr VIII Corps, 2541-2550. Landwehr Chief of Staff 2550-Present. Notable Enlisted 'Nordrheinland Landwehr-Panzergrenadier Brigade Nr.29' PzGren 38 Bataillon Infanterie 41 Bataillon Artillerie 81 Bataillon Pz 95 Bataillon PzGren 116 Bataillon ' 'Kompanie-3/116/29 Hauptmann Wilhelm Sonnenberg-CO of Kompanie 3, PzGren Bataillon 116 (5 Zug('Platoon' equivalent) in K-3) Zug 5 Hauptfeldwebel Steiger- Zugfuhrer('Platoon Leader') PzGren. Ulmer Baumann Wuhr Helms Vogler Waldemann Gruppe 3 Feldwebel Hans Thorwald- Gruppfuhrer('Group'(Squad) Leader) Truppe A PzGren. Imke Mohring Gefreiter Siegmund Brueckner Hauptgefreiter Rudolf Gerhard- Truppfuhrer('Troop Leader') Gefreiter Erich von Goetz Truppe B PzGren. Waldemar Holweg PzGren. Siemens Gefreiter Essen Gefreiter Faerber Unteroffizier Waldheim- Truppfuhrer